QUESTION
My landlord has placed an outside light 4 ft from my bedroom window, and it is so bright and intrusive. There are 2 lights there one opposite each other. It is only the one that shines directly into my bedroom that is difficult. It is the only one light out of 6 that is intrusive. The remaining omit sufficient light to make the area safe in the dark. Can I quote the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 re Statutory nuisance lighting. I live on a Thames mooring of 6 boats and 4 have bought the freehold and 2 of us didn't. I have a 125 year lease. Three of the landlords are being nice and have agreed to turn it off, it is only one person who is being difficult about his and many other areas. Many thanks for any help you can give, as I am chronically unwell with an incurable disease this is difficult as it really disturbs my sleep.
ANSWER
This is a tricky one to answer, as without knowing the site or environment I have to be a bit open in the reply. If the lighting, as in this case, is prejudicial to health then the case should be reconsidered. One option is installing an independent retrofit PIR Occupancy detector to the intrusive light fitting. This works well because by using such sensor will mean the light only comes on when it’s required for security and illuminating the walkway purposes and not throughout the night. The downside is that there are certain lights that will not allow an occupancy sensor to be fitted. These include SON or Mercury style lamps. If it can be fitted the difference is extraordinary because the sensor controls intrusive light independently rather than always being on causing annoyance and using excessive energy. Light nuisance can be very upsetting and anyone fitting amenity lighting should bear this in mind before they install a new system. We hope this offers a solution to improve a situation that can be very upsetting.
